Egyptology Degree
Hi! I’m new to this so not sure how to put a message out there. I’m really interested in doing an Egyptology Degree or a Classics Degree. Does anyone have any experience with these? Both positive and negative. Any advice? Literally any piece of information regarding these degrees is welcome 
thank you so much
thank you so muchReply 1
10
There aren't many unis that offer both, so you're limited in your choices: Swansea Uni, Uni of Wales Trinity St David, Oxford, Liverpool and UCL.
As for Egyptology, a lot of my friends take the course and they enjoy it, mainly because they have a huge interest in the subject to start with (you don't just stumble across such a specialised degree). The one thing I'll note is not many of them seem to have that solid a plan as to what they will do after uni, but maybe that happens in third year. But the uni I'm at, Swansea, has its own Egyptian museum and they do a lot of work in there which they say is great fun and good experience. They also learn Hieroglyphs and ancient Egyptian so that's something to bare in mind incase you don't enjoy languages. Also, as it is such a specialised subject, look through each unis module options. If you are interested in some areas in particular, check if that is an option, wouldn't it be annoying if you never got to touch on your favourite bit?
As for Classics/Classical Civ/Ancient History there are a lot more unis that offer it, so you'll have more choice. They are very versatile degrees, a mix of history, literature, language, religion, art and sometimes archaeology. The way I see them is its the same as if I took English Lit, or History, but a different period of time as they open the same doors and opportunities, plus more.
For Classics, usually you'll be required to study Latin and/or ancient Greek to a high level, although you don't need GCSEs or ALevels in them to apply in most cases, as they will teach you from beginner up. If you hate languages though this is something to remember, and where an Ancient History degree is useful as there are not usually language requirements, but you can still do many of the same modules as Classics. Again, check out the modules because if you are interested in mainly ancient Greek writers, going to a uni that only offers Roman writers isn't ideal.
Also because I've seen this question before, you don't need a Classics qualification, or Latin etc, to get onto a lot of these degree options. This is simply because not many schools offer such options and it isn't fair to students who haven't had the option to ever study it. They usually just want to see you have an interest, can write similar essays and do the work, so History, English and Religious Studies are the sort of ALevels most people on my course have taken, very few have Ancient History, Class Civ or Latin. So don't worry about being behind or not knowing stuff, because for most UK students, the last time they studied the ancients was Roman Britain. And 1st year will usual have an Intro to Ancient Greece module and an Intro to Rome to help you start to piece together the time, useful sources and to figure out what you are really interested in.
If you have any specific questions, please ask, I'm sure we can find an answer.
As for Egyptology, a lot of my friends take the course and they enjoy it, mainly because they have a huge interest in the subject to start with (you don't just stumble across such a specialised degree). The one thing I'll note is not many of them seem to have that solid a plan as to what they will do after uni, but maybe that happens in third year. But the uni I'm at, Swansea, has its own Egyptian museum and they do a lot of work in there which they say is great fun and good experience. They also learn Hieroglyphs and ancient Egyptian so that's something to bare in mind incase you don't enjoy languages. Also, as it is such a specialised subject, look through each unis module options. If you are interested in some areas in particular, check if that is an option, wouldn't it be annoying if you never got to touch on your favourite bit?
As for Classics/Classical Civ/Ancient History there are a lot more unis that offer it, so you'll have more choice. They are very versatile degrees, a mix of history, literature, language, religion, art and sometimes archaeology. The way I see them is its the same as if I took English Lit, or History, but a different period of time as they open the same doors and opportunities, plus more.
For Classics, usually you'll be required to study Latin and/or ancient Greek to a high level, although you don't need GCSEs or ALevels in them to apply in most cases, as they will teach you from beginner up. If you hate languages though this is something to remember, and where an Ancient History degree is useful as there are not usually language requirements, but you can still do many of the same modules as Classics. Again, check out the modules because if you are interested in mainly ancient Greek writers, going to a uni that only offers Roman writers isn't ideal.
Also because I've seen this question before, you don't need a Classics qualification, or Latin etc, to get onto a lot of these degree options. This is simply because not many schools offer such options and it isn't fair to students who haven't had the option to ever study it. They usually just want to see you have an interest, can write similar essays and do the work, so History, English and Religious Studies are the sort of ALevels most people on my course have taken, very few have Ancient History, Class Civ or Latin. So don't worry about being behind or not knowing stuff, because for most UK students, the last time they studied the ancients was Roman Britain. And 1st year will usual have an Intro to Ancient Greece module and an Intro to Rome to help you start to piece together the time, useful sources and to figure out what you are really interested in.
If you have any specific questions, please ask, I'm sure we can find an answer.
Reply 2
Hi! Thank you so so much for such a detailed response it’s very much appreciated. I’m not great with languages, I have basic French nailed and I read somewhere that you may need French whilst studying Egyptology. For my post degree plan, I would love to do literally anything History related I can get my hands on. Whether that means becoming a Lecturer, Egyptologist, working abroad or excavating. I live in Liverpool and so Liverpool Uni is my top choice for Egyptology. However some of the student reviews are quite low, eg 48% were satisfied with how organised the course is, which is a bit of a red flag for me. However I’m still going to go to open days with a lot of questions. I love learning about the Egyptian lifestyle, beliefs, religion, and I’d love to learn Hieroglyphics. Classics became an option of mine as I felt I might feel restricted in Egyptology as it’s very specific whereas Classics is broader. Does Classics tend to include Ancient Egypt? Thank you so much again for your detailed response.
@Sandtrooper did Egyptology at Liverpool, and I imagine is eminently suited to advising on that particular course, as well as the subject generally
(edited 4 years ago)
As far as Classics goes, those courses won't always include Ancient Egypt and usually degrees specifically named "Classics" rather than e.g. classical civilsation/archaeology/etc will be primarily focused on developing Greek and Latin language ability and then applying that to Greek and Latin literature. There is also usually some options in ancient history, classical archaeology, and ancient philosophy, although not all will allow you to primarily focus in those areas compared to literature. Universities that offer both courses may allow you to take as optional modules/papers classes in Egyptological topics, including the language, but some may not (for example Cambridge doesn't offer Egyptology options in their classics course, although you could take classical archaeology options in the Egyptology course there; they do offer Akkadian as an option in final year of classics though!).
If you wanted to combine both including language work on both the classics and Egyptology sides, Oxford's Classics & Oriental Studies course (with Egyptology as your oriental language) is probably your best bet to get good depth on both sides. In that course you have one of the subjects as your "main" subject and the other as your secondary subject; you take 3 papers (out of 8) over the last two years in your secondary subject, and 5 papers plus the first public exam in the other (the FPE is a bit different as it's either a one year course for the oriental studies side or two year for the classics side). UCL has, as well as it's Classics and Classical Archaeology & Civilisation courses which you might be able to take Egyptian archaeology and language options, their Ancient Languages and Ancient World programmes, which are potentially much broader than just ancient Greece and Rome as the main focus.
For less language focused courses then you might want to look at something like Classical Archaeology & Ancient History at Oxford (which usually offers the option to take a course in Egyptian Art and Architecture in the finals course, and Greek/Latin language work is purely optional), the Ancient World programme at UCL as above (which requires you to do Greek or Latin for at least a year and a half but then you can drop all language world). Archaeology at Cambridge could allow you to combine Egyptian archaeology/culture courses with classical archaeology, although if you aren't on one of the Egyptology tracks (which includes ancient Egyptian language work) you may find your options slightly more constrained.
If you wanted to combine both including language work on both the classics and Egyptology sides, Oxford's Classics & Oriental Studies course (with Egyptology as your oriental language) is probably your best bet to get good depth on both sides. In that course you have one of the subjects as your "main" subject and the other as your secondary subject; you take 3 papers (out of 8) over the last two years in your secondary subject, and 5 papers plus the first public exam in the other (the FPE is a bit different as it's either a one year course for the oriental studies side or two year for the classics side). UCL has, as well as it's Classics and Classical Archaeology & Civilisation courses which you might be able to take Egyptian archaeology and language options, their Ancient Languages and Ancient World programmes, which are potentially much broader than just ancient Greece and Rome as the main focus.
For less language focused courses then you might want to look at something like Classical Archaeology & Ancient History at Oxford (which usually offers the option to take a course in Egyptian Art and Architecture in the finals course, and Greek/Latin language work is purely optional), the Ancient World programme at UCL as above (which requires you to do Greek or Latin for at least a year and a half but then you can drop all language world). Archaeology at Cambridge could allow you to combine Egyptian archaeology/culture courses with classical archaeology, although if you aren't on one of the Egyptology tracks (which includes ancient Egyptian language work) you may find your options slightly more constrained.
Reply 5
Original post
by emilyhannahbrownHi! I’m new to this so not sure how to put a message out there. I’m really interested in doing an Egyptology Degree or a Classics Degree. Does anyone have any experience with these? Both positive and negative. Any advice? Literally any piece of information regarding these degrees is welcome thank you so much
thank you so muchI've messaged you about Egyptology, but I know some people who did joint Egyptology and Classics degrees. Bear in mind that if you do that and pursue a purely language route, that's 6 languages (Latin, Greek, Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian and Coptic), at least at Liverpool. You can also do more historical modules within Egyptology, but at least for Classics they will have a high language requirement. If you want to do something more historical, consider Egyptology and Ancient History together instead.
Reply 6
Original post
by emilyhannahbrownHi! Thank you so so much for such a detailed response it’s very much appreciated. I’m not great with languages, I have basic French nailed and I read somewhere that you may need French whilst studying Egyptology. For my post degree plan, I would love to do literally anything History related I can get my hands on. Whether that means becoming a Lecturer, Egyptologist, working abroad or excavating. I live in Liverpool and so Liverpool Uni is my top choice for Egyptology. However some of the student reviews are quite low, eg 48% were satisfied with how organised the course is, which is a bit of a red flag for me. However I’m still going to go to open days with a lot of questions. I love learning about the Egyptian lifestyle, beliefs, religion, and I’d love to learn Hieroglyphics. Classics became an option of mine as I felt I might feel restricted in Egyptology as it’s very specific whereas Classics is broader. Does Classics tend to include Ancient Egypt? Thank you so much again for your detailed response.
If you want to pursue Egyptology as a long-term career, you will need almost certainly need reading knowledge of French and German, and some people recommend Arabic, too.
There's not really a job as an 'Egyptologist'. That covers a lot of jobs, e.g. museum curators specialising in Egyptology, archaeologists working on Egyptian sites, or lecturers. Becoming a lecturer is no mean feat, especially in the UK. There are maybe 15-20 positions at most (and not all are permanent) in the entire country, and they only really come up when people retire or move. For excavating, you will need to start getting experience in other countries as Egypt has very strict requirements, which is why a joint Egyptology and Archaeology degree could be a beneficial one, too.
In terms of course organisation, those statistics might only reflect 6 students or so per year, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Liverpool used to have a system where you could take 25% of pretty much any other humanities subject which made timetabling an absolute nightmare, but they've gotten rid of it as of this year. Apart from timetabling (once we had a 9 a.m. and a 4 p.m. class with nothing in between), I had no issues with getting work back on time etc, and communication was excellent. The staff are all really nice and cover a huge range of topics, too.
Original post
by artful_lounger@Edminzodo did Egyptology at Liverpool, and I imagine is eminently suited to advising on that particular course, as well as the subject generally
Thanks, and thanks for your detailed answer above, too!
Reply 7
10
Swansea, as it offers both Classics and Egyptology, means even a Classics or Ancient History degree will have plenty of Egyptian module choices, but I know, as others have said, usually that is limited.
To be a lecturer is hard in the UK, there just isn't a need for many in Egyptology. Classics is offered more so needs more, but still it's a hard slog and requires luck and timing, and you'd need a undergraduate degree, a masters and a PhD, so you'd be 27ish before even job hunting. Unless it's a dream, it isn't really a back up plan. If you are interested in archaeology, then take a degree which includes that, most unis don't really touch on it in a huge way otherwise.
I've heard good things about the Liverpool department, and I don't put much stock in ratings, people only comment when something has gone badly, not well.
I'd really recommend looking at what you'd like to do in the future to narrow down a degree that suits that. By shopping around unis and courses, I'm sure you'll find one that has a mix of your interests in Egyptology, archaeology and history.
Good luck!
To be a lecturer is hard in the UK, there just isn't a need for many in Egyptology. Classics is offered more so needs more, but still it's a hard slog and requires luck and timing, and you'd need a undergraduate degree, a masters and a PhD, so you'd be 27ish before even job hunting. Unless it's a dream, it isn't really a back up plan. If you are interested in archaeology, then take a degree which includes that, most unis don't really touch on it in a huge way otherwise.
I've heard good things about the Liverpool department, and I don't put much stock in ratings, people only comment when something has gone badly, not well.
I'd really recommend looking at what you'd like to do in the future to narrow down a degree that suits that. By shopping around unis and courses, I'm sure you'll find one that has a mix of your interests in Egyptology, archaeology and history.
Good luck!
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